Most people working in an office understand the importance and usefulness of PDF software and a PDF reader. PDFs enable us to create secure documents without the sometimes undesirable metadata found in Microsoft Word documents. PDF software allows us to create documents that are universally readable on any computer or mobile device with a basic PDF reader. And really good PDF software, such as Foxit PhantomPDF (if we do say so ourselves) provides numerous options for creating and editing our documents.

Almost anyone that has used a PDF editor like Foxit PhantomPDF knows some of the basic editing options available to them. Undo, redo, and creating headers and footers are simple tools that you find in most editing programs, whether they’re PDF or not. However, there are some additional capabilities available on PDF software like PhantomPDF that can have a dramatic impact on the quality of your PDFs. And if you’re not already using them, you may want to give them a try.

Create a Watermark in PhantomPDF to Protect Your Document

Watermarks are the faint but noticeable images in the background of each page of a document. They’re typically used to put company names or logos behind text in order to protect duplication or copyrights. Creating a watermark with PDF software like PhantomPDF is very easy:

In the “organise” menu, choose “page marks,” “watermarks,” “add.”

You can then choose the text or image you’d like to use, as well as select from a number of options, including whether the watermark appears in front of or behind the PDF content, the size and margins of the watermark, and its orientation. After adding a watermark, every PDF reader that opens your document will display it in the background.

Use Bates Numbering for Better Searches

Bates Numbering is an indexing tool used by companies in the legal and medical industries and by medium to large businesses. Bates Numbering is a simple and automated way to include unique identifiers on each page of a document that indicate the date and time a document was created.

Bates Numbering makes it easy to index and retrieve documents, especially when there is a large amount of documents being created on a regular basis. Using Bates Numbering in a document is easy with PDF software like PhantomPDF:

From here, you can decide whether you want the numbering in the header or footer, which side of the document to put it on, how many digits you want in the number, and a prefix and suffix (if any). By using Bates Numbering, you’ll never have to worry about losing a document again, which for busy professionals is a big selling point.

Add Bookmarks to Make Your PDF Easier to NavigateandMore Professional Looking

Anyone who has used a PDF reader extensively knows how difficult it can be to navigate a document that is hundreds or thousands of pages long. Bookmarking to the rescue! Bookmarking your table of contents is a great way to help users read your document. It also has the dual advantage of making a document far easier to navigate and making the document appear more professional.

Adding bookmarks is easy with PDF software like PhantomPDF:

Simply go to the part of the document where you want a bookmark, click the “new bookmark” icon on the bookmark panel, and voila.

You can create nested bookmarks (or “sub-bookmarks”) simply by dragging a new bookmark directly under another. Save yourself and anyone else reading your PDF document time and frustration by adding this simple feature.